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Justice News

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of West Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Another Detroit Man Pleads Guilty To Heroin Distribution

Huntington, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Alvester Thomas, age 34, of Detroit, Michigan, was sentenced to ten years and one month imprisonment as a result of his February 2014 guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute 1000 grams or more of heroin. Agents with the Huntington Violent Crime and Drug Task Force found the heroin in a safe inside the home that Thomas shared with Kristen Michelle Graley at 3008 Rear Third Avenue, Huntington, West Virginia. Graley pleaded guilty to related drug charges and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. Thomas admitted that the heroin was his and that he intended to sell it in the Huntington area. In addition to the heroin, agents seized 545 oxycodone pills, 73 oxymorphone pills, additional amounts of heroin and approximately three pounds of marijuana. Agents also recovered a gun from the kitchen of the home and more than $17,000 in cash.

The Honorable Robert C. Chambers presided over the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and heroin in communities across the Southern District.